Hot Klamath River Temps, Hot Weather, Not So Hot Fishing

Sep 23, 2009

I just finished a three day fishing hire with a great couple out from Philadelphia.Â Â The weather was in the low 90s, the Klamath river temperatures were in the high 60s, (67 by my thermometer) and the fishing was average to poor.Â All of my usual “secret spots” we non-productive, but the classic choppy water steelhead riffles produced the most consistent fish.Â In the three days we caught 2 adults, about 12 half pounders, and 30+ trout and smelt.Â The trend was for each day to be a bit slower than the previous day, as we stacked up yet another consecutive hot weather day.

The extreme heat motivated me to move to shallow shady stretches along the banks and fish with dry waking flies and terrestrial patterns rather than some of the classic swung wet flies.Â We were wet wading, since a set of waders might have been lethal to the fishermen in the heat!Â I think we actually enjoyed the switch to dry patterns and the take of smaller fish more than the hunt for the intended steelhead. Â We did actually get one of the half pounders on a small “bomber” that we were skating across a shaded riffle.Â FUN!!!

My thoughts on the past three days are that I wouldn’t expect to see dramatically improved fishing until we get some cooler weather, and that some of the smaller resident trout can be great fun with light gear and various dry fly patterns. Â I usually don’t talk too much about mid-klamath dry fly fishing, since my usual game here is to target steelhead in cooler weather conditions with a swung wet fly. Â Well, live and learn!Â Â Here are some pictures from the past days, I hope you enjoy them.Â Â Â Doug